Generally, in times of an increasing number of applications providing wireless communication capabilities employing multiple antennas, there is a growing need of a multi-antenna test system and a corresponding multi-antenna test method, such as for verifying correct functioning of the applications with the aid of a minimum number of test antennas in order to allow for testing in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
The publication US20100285753A1 discloses systems and methods for simulating a multipath environment for testing a device. In this context, a plurality of antennas are placed around a device under test in an anechoic chamber. Each of a plurality of the antennas is connected to a path of a variable path simulator capable of generating multiple paths between the antennas and external wireless communication test equipment. The variable path simulator introduces a delay spread into each path. In this way, a multipath environment is simulated with signals appearing to arrive from different angles and different distances. Each of a plurality of antennas may be adapted to produce substantially plane waves at the device under test. As it can be seen, due to the variety of different angels and different distances, the usage of the systems and methods disadvantageously leads to a limited efficiency, and thus also to increased cost.
What is needed, therefore, is a multi-antenna test system and a corresponding multi-antenna test method, especially for performance testing, each of which ensures both a high efficiency and reduced costs.